Editor's Corner: Old Swedish Traditions

THE EDITOR'S CORNER
O l d Swedish Traditions
Our Swedish heritage, how we love it! Ladies in home-sewn
costumes bustle about, arranging the smörgåsbord in the church
h a l l . L u c i a makes her appearance crowned with burning
candles, attended by white-clad maidens and star-boys in tall,
pointed hats. We eat our fill of l i n g o n , l i m p a , and l u t f i s k on
Christmas Eve while the children eagerly await the " J u l t o m t e"
with his sack of presents. Folk dancers in swishing skirts and
knee-breeches vigorously perform the "Östgötapolska" and the
"Daldans." A chorus of older gentlemen in white caps sings
" D j u p t i havet" and "Välkommen sköna maj." Towheaded
youngsters play "ring-games" around the Midsummer pole
while the cameras click.
A critical purest, recently arrived from the old country, might
have certain reservations. He might, for instance, find it strange
to hold a smörgåsbord at a church and to discover that it
moreover includes such exotic dishes as macaroni salad or
pineapple jello. (He might also search in vain for a snaps to go
with the herring!) Lucia might seem remarkably similar to an
American beauty queen. Most of the folk costumes so lovingly
sewn by the ladies for themselves and their small fry may appear
to be vaguely inspired by the Mora dräkt from Dalarna, but they
may not always seem in character with stylish hairdos and chic
eyeglasses. A n d the coffee is probably weak by Swedish
standards.
While we may take real pride in the thought of how much of
the old Swedish folk culture is still preserved in North America,
our visitor from Sweden may be struck—although he w i l l most
likely be too polite to say so—by how little of it he finds. It is all a
question of perspective from either side of the Atlantic. To him,
many Swedish-American activities may indeed appear both
derivative and imperfectly understood, somewhat faded copies
of their Swedish originals. But no matter: here they may be
authentic enough as rituals to reaffirm our sentimental ties with
the old country. As such they are more important to us than our
236
outside observer may be able to grasp. These things are
cherished all the more as it seems natural to us to assume that
they were all a part of the cultural baggage our immigrant
forebears brought with them to the New World.
There are, however, some curious discrepancies. Letters and
accounts from the early Swedish settlements i n the rural
Midwest say surprisingly little about the practice of o ld customs
on American soil. I have found no mention of Lucia. Christmas is
described as an almost entirely religious holiday. There appear
to have been no Midsummer festivities i n the early days,
although the Swedes and other Scandinavians soon came to
celebrate the Fourth of July with particular zeal. It becomes
evident that old Swedish customs were better—and more
self-consciously—preserved through organizations and societies
i n cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, or Seattle, particularly
among the later immigrants.
There would seem to be a number of explanations for this
apparent paradox. First of all, most of the immigrants before 1900
had been tenant farmers or landless farm laborers whose poverty
and social inferiority had largely excluded them from the rich
peasant culture of the more prosperous farmsteads. Possessing
only the most rudimentary education, they knew little more than
their own local traditions. Thus, for instance, early emigrants
from Småland or Hälsingland would hardly be familiar with the
Lucia custom, which was then practiced mainly in Värmland.
They were scarcely part of a national culture.
Perhaps even more important was the matter of timing. Much
of the nineteenth century was a time of cultural upheaval among
the Scandinavian peasantry. Driven by new economic and social
ambitions, they showed an astonishing eagerness to jettison their
ancient folk culture and to replace it with the genteel usages of
the urban middle classes. The distinctive handicrafts of local
artisans and womenfolk gave way to standardized industrial
products. Well-to-do farmers renovated their old timbered
dwellings with siding and fretwork verandas while their wives
furnished their parlors with pianos and potted palms. O l d songs,
dances, proverbs, and folk tales were forgotten.
It was from this peasant culture in rapid dissolution that the
mass emigration of the 1850s through the 1880s proceeded. For
many of the emigrants of this period, crossing the Atlantic
meant—among other things—the ultimate flight from what
237
remained of a culture of social inferiority. Seen against this
background, as well as their natural desire not to appear too
"different" in the new land, the earlier immigrants' eagerness to
adapt themselves to A m e r i c a n middle-class conventions
becomes readily understandable. The Swedish qualities on
which they prided themselves and which they sought to pass on
to their children were primarily religious and ethical, rather than
cultural in an outward sense.
The question of timing is also significant regarding this last
point. An important outlet for growing peasant self-awareness
and self-assertion was the pietistic religious "Awakening" from
the 1830s onward. This tended to be strongly puritanical and
condemned much of the old peasant culture as heathen
superstition, idolatrous survivals from medieval Catholicism, or
worldly vanities. It sternly disapproved of the drinking and
revelry that had played so conspicuous a part in the celebration
of traditional holidays and festive family occasions.
Hymn-singing, parlor organs, and coffee-drinking replaced
brännvin, old folksongs, games and dances, fiddles and
nyckelharpor—which were often burned on bonfires by
repentant sinners. The early immigrants to America were for the
most part deeply i n f l u e n c e d by the Swedish religious
Awakening and in the new land their churches—which were
distinctly more pietistic than the state church at home—provided
the centers of their social life, especially in the rural settlements.
Beginning in the 1890s, however, Sweden began to rediscover
the rich heritage of its traditional peasant culture under the
influence of the National Romantic movement in literature and
the arts. Writers l i k e E r i k Axel K a r l f e l d t , Verner von
Heidenstam, and Selma Lagerlöf, painters like Anders Zorn and
Carl Larsson, book illustrators l i k e John Bauer and Aina
Stenberg, composers like W i l h e lm Peterson-Berger and Hugo
Alfvén idealized an i d y l l i c peasant Sweden. August Bondesson
collected old folksongs. Artur Hazelius assembled ancient farm
buildings from every province at the Skansen outdoor museum
in Stockholm, encouraging the establishment of innumerable
l o c a l - c u l t u r e museums (hembygdsgårdar) throughout the
country. O l d wooden milk pails and copper kettles became
valued antiques. It was something like the belated discovery of
the romantic " W i l d West" i n America at the very time it was
becoming past history.
238
In the meantime certain old traditions gained currency
throughout Sweden while new ones were created. The Lucia
custom, which i n the past had been limited to certain localities in
western Sweden, became popular in upper-class circles, from
which it spread throughout Swedish society. The t o m t e , the
ancient guardian elf of the family farmstead, became associated
in the popular mind with Christmas through Viktor Rydberg's
well-known poem, " T o m t e n , " published i n 1881, and was
transformed into a miniature Santa Claus through the immensely
popular Christmas cards by Jenny Nyström, which remain as
well-loved today as they were at the turn of the century. Male
choral singing and the smörgåsbord buffet were originally
upper-class institutions. None of these were traditions which the
earlier emigrants were likely to have brought with them to
America.
National Romanticism was, initially at least, an urban, upper-and
middle-class phenomenon. Bank directors built suburban
villas in the style of Dalarna farmhouses and their daughters
entertained guests by singing artful arrangements of o ld
folksongs, accompanied on the grand piano. National-romantic
views strongly pervaded the conservative anti-emigration
movement which was organized in 1907; not surprisingly it took
some time before they would have much impact upon the poorer
inhabitants of the countryside.
Still, the emigrants of this period, better educated than their
predecessors and largely urban in background, were much more
a part of their national culture than the earlier emigrants. They,
too, could not but be affected by the national-romantic mood.
Among them came a new generation of culture-bearers, who as
journalists and organizational leaders now introduced Swedish
National Romanticism into Swedish-America. Most susceptible
to this message were the recent immigrants to the industrial
cities of the Northeast, with their greater cultural awareness and
penchant for organization fostered by the various " f o lk
movements" of the time in Sweden. Under such circumstances,
it is not s u r p r i s i n g that the largest Swedish-American
organization, the Vasa Order, which is specifically dedicated to
perpetuating Swedish culture in America, was founded in
Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1898.
Gradually, from the early decades of this century, " o ld
Swedish customs" became firmly rooted in Swedish-American
239
life through the combined activities of the societies, churches,
publications, and not least of all Swedish-oriented businesses,
which made available such indispensible articles as l i n g o n ,
l i m p a , l u t f i s k , straw Christmas goats, and brightly painted,
wooden Dalarna horses. How could we now imagine the
S w e d i s h - A m e r i c a n year without L u c i a and Midsummer,
folk-dancing and smorgasbord?
Once again, it would appear, the old stereotypes break down
under careful examination. We are accustomed to assume that
the earlier the immigration, the more it brought with it in the
way of authentic folk culture. In actuality, it would appear that
Swedish folk culture in America was to a surprising degree a
later import inspired by the national-romantic revival among the
educated classes i n Sweden and that it was cultivated here
largely as a conscious effort to create a distinctive identity by an
immigrant group by now assured of its place in American society.
Here is certainly a ripe field for detailed study. How little we
know about it! When was the first organized Lucia-fest held in
America, and by whom? Where and when was Midsummer first
celebrated? Who organized the first folk-dance team? What
publications provided the music, dance directions, and costume
patterns? The preserved records of clubs, societies, and
congregations ought surely to provide answers.
H . A . B .
240

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THE EDITOR'S CORNER
O l d Swedish Traditions
Our Swedish heritage, how we love it! Ladies in home-sewn
costumes bustle about, arranging the smörgåsbord in the church
h a l l . L u c i a makes her appearance crowned with burning
candles, attended by white-clad maidens and star-boys in tall,
pointed hats. We eat our fill of l i n g o n , l i m p a , and l u t f i s k on
Christmas Eve while the children eagerly await the " J u l t o m t e"
with his sack of presents. Folk dancers in swishing skirts and
knee-breeches vigorously perform the "Östgötapolska" and the
"Daldans." A chorus of older gentlemen in white caps sings
" D j u p t i havet" and "Välkommen sköna maj." Towheaded
youngsters play "ring-games" around the Midsummer pole
while the cameras click.
A critical purest, recently arrived from the old country, might
have certain reservations. He might, for instance, find it strange
to hold a smörgåsbord at a church and to discover that it
moreover includes such exotic dishes as macaroni salad or
pineapple jello. (He might also search in vain for a snaps to go
with the herring!) Lucia might seem remarkably similar to an
American beauty queen. Most of the folk costumes so lovingly
sewn by the ladies for themselves and their small fry may appear
to be vaguely inspired by the Mora dräkt from Dalarna, but they
may not always seem in character with stylish hairdos and chic
eyeglasses. A n d the coffee is probably weak by Swedish
standards.
While we may take real pride in the thought of how much of
the old Swedish folk culture is still preserved in North America,
our visitor from Sweden may be struck—although he w i l l most
likely be too polite to say so—by how little of it he finds. It is all a
question of perspective from either side of the Atlantic. To him,
many Swedish-American activities may indeed appear both
derivative and imperfectly understood, somewhat faded copies
of their Swedish originals. But no matter: here they may be
authentic enough as rituals to reaffirm our sentimental ties with
the old country. As such they are more important to us than our
236
outside observer may be able to grasp. These things are
cherished all the more as it seems natural to us to assume that
they were all a part of the cultural baggage our immigrant
forebears brought with them to the New World.
There are, however, some curious discrepancies. Letters and
accounts from the early Swedish settlements i n the rural
Midwest say surprisingly little about the practice of o ld customs
on American soil. I have found no mention of Lucia. Christmas is
described as an almost entirely religious holiday. There appear
to have been no Midsummer festivities i n the early days,
although the Swedes and other Scandinavians soon came to
celebrate the Fourth of July with particular zeal. It becomes
evident that old Swedish customs were better—and more
self-consciously—preserved through organizations and societies
i n cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, or Seattle, particularly
among the later immigrants.
There would seem to be a number of explanations for this
apparent paradox. First of all, most of the immigrants before 1900
had been tenant farmers or landless farm laborers whose poverty
and social inferiority had largely excluded them from the rich
peasant culture of the more prosperous farmsteads. Possessing
only the most rudimentary education, they knew little more than
their own local traditions. Thus, for instance, early emigrants
from Småland or Hälsingland would hardly be familiar with the
Lucia custom, which was then practiced mainly in Värmland.
They were scarcely part of a national culture.
Perhaps even more important was the matter of timing. Much
of the nineteenth century was a time of cultural upheaval among
the Scandinavian peasantry. Driven by new economic and social
ambitions, they showed an astonishing eagerness to jettison their
ancient folk culture and to replace it with the genteel usages of
the urban middle classes. The distinctive handicrafts of local
artisans and womenfolk gave way to standardized industrial
products. Well-to-do farmers renovated their old timbered
dwellings with siding and fretwork verandas while their wives
furnished their parlors with pianos and potted palms. O l d songs,
dances, proverbs, and folk tales were forgotten.
It was from this peasant culture in rapid dissolution that the
mass emigration of the 1850s through the 1880s proceeded. For
many of the emigrants of this period, crossing the Atlantic
meant—among other things—the ultimate flight from what
237
remained of a culture of social inferiority. Seen against this
background, as well as their natural desire not to appear too
"different" in the new land, the earlier immigrants' eagerness to
adapt themselves to A m e r i c a n middle-class conventions
becomes readily understandable. The Swedish qualities on
which they prided themselves and which they sought to pass on
to their children were primarily religious and ethical, rather than
cultural in an outward sense.
The question of timing is also significant regarding this last
point. An important outlet for growing peasant self-awareness
and self-assertion was the pietistic religious "Awakening" from
the 1830s onward. This tended to be strongly puritanical and
condemned much of the old peasant culture as heathen
superstition, idolatrous survivals from medieval Catholicism, or
worldly vanities. It sternly disapproved of the drinking and
revelry that had played so conspicuous a part in the celebration
of traditional holidays and festive family occasions.
Hymn-singing, parlor organs, and coffee-drinking replaced
brännvin, old folksongs, games and dances, fiddles and
nyckelharpor—which were often burned on bonfires by
repentant sinners. The early immigrants to America were for the
most part deeply i n f l u e n c e d by the Swedish religious
Awakening and in the new land their churches—which were
distinctly more pietistic than the state church at home—provided
the centers of their social life, especially in the rural settlements.
Beginning in the 1890s, however, Sweden began to rediscover
the rich heritage of its traditional peasant culture under the
influence of the National Romantic movement in literature and
the arts. Writers l i k e E r i k Axel K a r l f e l d t , Verner von
Heidenstam, and Selma Lagerlöf, painters like Anders Zorn and
Carl Larsson, book illustrators l i k e John Bauer and Aina
Stenberg, composers like W i l h e lm Peterson-Berger and Hugo
Alfvén idealized an i d y l l i c peasant Sweden. August Bondesson
collected old folksongs. Artur Hazelius assembled ancient farm
buildings from every province at the Skansen outdoor museum
in Stockholm, encouraging the establishment of innumerable
l o c a l - c u l t u r e museums (hembygdsgårdar) throughout the
country. O l d wooden milk pails and copper kettles became
valued antiques. It was something like the belated discovery of
the romantic " W i l d West" i n America at the very time it was
becoming past history.
238
In the meantime certain old traditions gained currency
throughout Sweden while new ones were created. The Lucia
custom, which i n the past had been limited to certain localities in
western Sweden, became popular in upper-class circles, from
which it spread throughout Swedish society. The t o m t e , the
ancient guardian elf of the family farmstead, became associated
in the popular mind with Christmas through Viktor Rydberg's
well-known poem, " T o m t e n , " published i n 1881, and was
transformed into a miniature Santa Claus through the immensely
popular Christmas cards by Jenny Nyström, which remain as
well-loved today as they were at the turn of the century. Male
choral singing and the smörgåsbord buffet were originally
upper-class institutions. None of these were traditions which the
earlier emigrants were likely to have brought with them to
America.
National Romanticism was, initially at least, an urban, upper-and
middle-class phenomenon. Bank directors built suburban
villas in the style of Dalarna farmhouses and their daughters
entertained guests by singing artful arrangements of o ld
folksongs, accompanied on the grand piano. National-romantic
views strongly pervaded the conservative anti-emigration
movement which was organized in 1907; not surprisingly it took
some time before they would have much impact upon the poorer
inhabitants of the countryside.
Still, the emigrants of this period, better educated than their
predecessors and largely urban in background, were much more
a part of their national culture than the earlier emigrants. They,
too, could not but be affected by the national-romantic mood.
Among them came a new generation of culture-bearers, who as
journalists and organizational leaders now introduced Swedish
National Romanticism into Swedish-America. Most susceptible
to this message were the recent immigrants to the industrial
cities of the Northeast, with their greater cultural awareness and
penchant for organization fostered by the various " f o lk
movements" of the time in Sweden. Under such circumstances,
it is not s u r p r i s i n g that the largest Swedish-American
organization, the Vasa Order, which is specifically dedicated to
perpetuating Swedish culture in America, was founded in
Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1898.
Gradually, from the early decades of this century, " o ld
Swedish customs" became firmly rooted in Swedish-American
239
life through the combined activities of the societies, churches,
publications, and not least of all Swedish-oriented businesses,
which made available such indispensible articles as l i n g o n ,
l i m p a , l u t f i s k , straw Christmas goats, and brightly painted,
wooden Dalarna horses. How could we now imagine the
S w e d i s h - A m e r i c a n year without L u c i a and Midsummer,
folk-dancing and smorgasbord?
Once again, it would appear, the old stereotypes break down
under careful examination. We are accustomed to assume that
the earlier the immigration, the more it brought with it in the
way of authentic folk culture. In actuality, it would appear that
Swedish folk culture in America was to a surprising degree a
later import inspired by the national-romantic revival among the
educated classes i n Sweden and that it was cultivated here
largely as a conscious effort to create a distinctive identity by an
immigrant group by now assured of its place in American society.
Here is certainly a ripe field for detailed study. How little we
know about it! When was the first organized Lucia-fest held in
America, and by whom? Where and when was Midsummer first
celebrated? Who organized the first folk-dance team? What
publications provided the music, dance directions, and costume
patterns? The preserved records of clubs, societies, and
congregations ought surely to provide answers.
H . A . B .
240